Elevated railroad



(No Model.)

J. N. VALLEY. BLEVATBD RAILRUAD.

Patented Feb.` 10, 1.891.

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JOIIN N. VALLEY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEV JERSEY.

- ELEVATED RA|LROAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,273, dated February 10, 1891.

Application filed August 7, 1890. Serial No. 361,308. (No model.)

`To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN NAPOLEON VAL- LEY, of Jersey City, in the county ot' Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Elevated Railroad, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to elevated railroads, more especially of that class adapted for use in timber-lands' for getting out logs, or lat mines for transporting coal, ores, or refuse, or in other situations for various purposes.

My improvements relate more particularly to the mode of adjustably suspending the longitudinal track-rail-sustai ningsleeper or timber, and in aimethod oftlaying or fastening the track-rail sections on the sleeper to maintain its straightness both ways, for promoting greater ease of travel of a carriage or trolley along the track-rail, and giving increased durability to the entire structure.

The invention will rst be described, and then will be particularly pointed Out in claims hereinafter set forth.

Reference is to behad to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, in which similar letters and figures of refer- *ence indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a short section of elevated railroad embodying the invention and shows a logging carriage or trolley on the track-rail. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional end view of the railroad, taken on the line x :n in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly in vertical section, and illustrates in larger scale how the track-rail sleeper is sustained from the top stringer and how the rail-sections are applied at both the top and side faces of the sleeper; and Fig. I is a detail vertical sectional view taken through the Stringer, sleeper, and track-rail, on the Stringer into which the posts are mortised; but `any other approved connection, of the struts and Stringer may be adopted.

Fig. 3 of the drawings most clearly illustrates that the lower ends of the hangers C are screw-threaded and carry nuts c, onto which the timber sleeper D rests. This construction allows the sleeper to be set higher or lower on any particular hanger or hangers to level the sleeper and the track1'ailE,which it supports, by simply screwing the hangernuts c up or down, and, if preferred, without disturbing the connection of the hanger with the Stringer when once they are connected with each other. I prefer to connect the hangers to the stringer by screwing the threaded upper ends of the hangers into it, which will allow the hangers to be adjusted higher orlowerin the Stringer to supplement the vertical adjustment of the sleeper and rail by the hanger-nuts c to level or grade the tracks; but the upper ends of the hangers may be connected to the Stringer by separate bolts or in any other approved manner. If desired, lock-nuts c may be used on the threaded hangers above the sleeper D, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings, to prevent curling upward of the sleeper from the lower nut c.

The track-rail sections E are each made with a head portion c, and a connected flange portion e', which is about'one-half the thickness of the head part, which is preferably one inch wide on its two faces l 2, either of which may be presented uppermost for the carriage or trolley F to run upon, accordingly as the rail-section flanges e are fastened at the top or at the side of the sleeper. I nd in practice that by fastening the liange portion of one rail-section to the top of the longitudinal sleeper by bolts e2 or otherwise and by fastening the flange portions of the adjacent railsections by suitable bolts c3 to the front side of the sleeper, or that side of it along which the trolley-framef moves as the trolley-wheels f travel on the rail, a natural warping of the sleeper may be overcome and any later-discovered tendency of the sleeper to warp either vertically or horizontally may be corrected and the sleeper maintained practically straight both ways to assure smooth operation of the railroad. Figs. 1 and 3 of the IOO drawings illustrate this method of fastening the rail-'sections to the sleeper. Vhen-the sleeper is Warped vertically, the rail-sections are applied at its top, and where the sleeper 5 is warped laterally the rail-sections are applied to its front face. Then the rail-sections are applied to the top of the sleeper, their heads e will be set out or will overhang the front edge of the sleeper a distance equalca ing the thickness of the iianges c of the adjacent sections and the wearing-face l of the flat-laid rail-section will align with the headfaces 2 of the adjacent sections, while the head-face 2 ot the flat-laid section will lie i5 in the saine plane'as the outer face of the vertical rail-sections. It is obvious that with this method of laying the rail-secti6ns on the longitudinal sleeper the latter may not only be straightened when originally Warped, but 2o any future tendency ot' the sleeper to warp either vertically or laterally may be corrected and the rail-section heads will always present a smooth regular track for the carriage or trolley to travelon. Furthermore, this inter- 2: changeable or reversible inode of laying the rail-sections on the sleeper allows presentation of either face l or 2 of the rail-heads for the trolley to run upon, and when one face Wears down too far the other face may be set zo uppermost to receive the wear of the car or trolley` wheels.

The drawings represent the trolley or car F loaded with a few logs G slung to it by chains; but any other approved freight or passenger carryingcar ordevice may be hung fromthe trolley and will run between the diverging posts of the struts A as the trolley travels along the track-rail. The timber-sections of the' main Stringer B will be coupled ,to together by links and pivot-bolts atcurves of the railroad, as indicated at b in the drawings, and will be halved or spliced together Where the road is straight, or nearly so, as will readily be understood.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. In an elevated railroad, the combination, With supporting struts or posts kand a stringer held thereto, of hangers on the stringers, 5o provided with screw-threaded lower ends, a sleeper on the hangers, and adjustable nuts or collars on the hangers below the sleeper, substantially as described.

2. In an elevated railroad, the combination, with supporting struts or posts and a stringer held thereto, of hangers screwed into the Stringer and having screw-threaded lower ends, a sleeperon the hangers, and adjustable nuts `or collars ou the hangers below the sleep- 6o er, substantially as described. v

In an elevated railroad, the combination, with downwardly-diverging struts A and a stringer B thereon, of hangers C on the stringer, a sleeper D on the hangersjuts orcollars c on the hangers below the sleeper, and a track-rail on the sleeper, substantially as described.

4. In anelevated railroad, thecoinbination, with a longitudinal sleeper, ot' track-rail sec- 7o tions having heads which overhang or project at one side of their flange, said rail-sections being laid-both at the top and front faces of the sleeper, substantially as described, for the purposes set forth. 4 75 5. In an elevated railroad, the combination, with a longitudinal sleeper or support, of track-rail sections laid both at the top and front faces ot the sleeper, substantially as set forth.

JOHN N. VALLEY.

Witnesses:

HENRY L. GOODWIN, C. SEDGWICK. 

